A Thousand Paper Cranes
by somethingworthdyingfor
Summary: Blues eventually. Rated for cursing. An encounter with Him leaves Bubbles powerless, but help comes in the strangest of ways.


**A Thousand Paper Cranes**

VVVV

'_We're too evenly matched one on one.'_ A redheaded girl thought, not for the first time. She dodged an angry, red beam and quickly sent one of her own pink beams in the same direction.

"Blossom, all of our attacks are missing!" She heard her sister call out to her. Blossom frowned and nodded, trying to devise some sort of plan.

Realizing her sister wasn't actually going to answer her, Bubbles turned her attention back to the blonde boy before her. She shot forward, aiming to surprise him with her speed.

Boomer wasn't actually surprised, he knew by know how fast his opponent was; and though he may not be as quick, he could still hold his own and dodge her attack.

He winced as he suddenly felt a throbbing at his side. Well, _mostly_ dodge her attack.

Bubbles turned to look back at him and felt a twinge of guilt at the brief look of pain that flashed across her opponent's eyes. Quickly, she suppressed it; she wasn't supposed to feel guilty for the enemy.

She was dragged out of her thoughts as a flash of bright green crashed into her.

"Damn it, Butch!" Buttercup cried as she pushed herself out of the crater, oblivious to her crash-landing into her sister. She immediately launched herself after her counterpart and began blasting beam after beam of hot, green energy.

Bubbles floated out of the crater and quickly scanned the area. She could see Blossom dodging Brick's attacks, and to her right she could see Buttercup blasting at Butch.

'_But where did Boomer go?'_ She thought. She flickered her eyes around her but she could not see the boy clad in blue.

Frowning, Bubbles began to land. No sooner had her feet touched the ground did she feel a blast of energy slam into her back. She was pushed down from the impact and quickly whipped her head around, trying not to wince at the flash of pain. She looked up, only to see Boomer grinning down at her from atop a building.

Bubbles furrowed her brows and stood up, but before she could launch herself after the blue boy before her, the ground beneath her began to shake violently.

Confused, Bubbles looked down at the trembling rocks. Cracks began to appear as the rumbling grew more and more frantic. She looked around her, but being airborne her sisters and their counterparts failed to notice the violent tremors. Only Boomer showed the slightest hint of confusion as the building he stood on began to shake.

Cracks in the ground around her began to appear and Bubbles hesitantly floated up a few feet. Out of the largest crevice, red smoke swirled its way into the streets of Townsville. Bubbles gasped as she took in the sight.

Him.

Both Blossom and Buttercup, having seen the familiar smoke, flew closer to Bubbles as the smoke swirled around her. Even the Rowdyruffs seemed surprised by Him's sudden appearance.

"Bubbles, get out of there!" Blossom called out.

Dimly, Bubbles registered her sister's voice. She knew she had to fly, had to get out of the smoke's reach, but something was keeping her rooted; she couldn't move, couldn't escape.

A low laugh echoed in her head and her skin tingled at the familiarity. The red smoke spread around her, encasing her in a makeshift dome. Out of the corner of her eye she recognized her sisters' vain attempts to break through the smoke. Bubbles struggled to move her arms, her legs, anything to get out of the dome, when a familiar voice entered her mind.

Bubbles shivered as the voice spoke; it didn't take long for her to realize only she could hear Him.

"_Sweet, little Bubbles,"_ the voice cooed. _"don't you know it's a dangerous world we live in? Fragile, little girls like you should stay far away from big boy's work."_

She could almost hear the grin in Him's voice.

"I'm not a little girl, Him." Bubbles muttered.

Him chuckled. _"No, you're something _special_ aren't you? A special girl with special powers, how fitting."_ He paused. _"You're not a little girl, you're a _freak_."_

Bubbles flinched at His words but otherwise showed no sign of acknowledging His comment.

"_But,"_ Him continued. _"What's a special girl without her special powers? Is she still special, or is she something else?"_ Bubbles shuddered as Him's voice slithered in her head. Red smoke spiraled around her as Him's voice echoed. _"Is she useless, a liability, or even a threat? Or maybe all of the above?"_

Without any warning, the smoke around her hardened and Bubbles was suddenly pushed backwards, hurtling towards the red, hazy dome. She crashed into it, feeling as though a thousand burning knives had simultaneously struck her. The instant her body made contact with the dome, the smoke dissipated into the air.

Bubbles fell into a pile of rubble and was surprised at the pain she felt. She looked down at her side, only to see a large cut. She brought her hand to the wound and felt a warm, sticky liquid: blood. She couldn't remember the last time she had ever received a wound like _this_, and from a crash-landing. Bubbles made to stand, but her legs wouldn't cooperate and the most she could do was sit up as her sisters flew down to her aid.

She could barely make out her sisters' words as they bombarded her with an array of questions. She heard the Rowdyruffs had escaped, the smoke had scattered, and Him hadn't made an appearance.

"It's strange though, the red smoke is Him's signature move." Blossom mused.

"I told you already, Him was just being an ass so he could distract us while the boys escaped, the damn cowards." Buttercup seethed, all the while holding out her hand to Bubbles, who winced reaching for her sister's hand.

Instantly, the sisters looked down at Bubbles, scanning her over. Blossom frowned as Buttercup whistled. "That looks painful. How on earth did you land that?"

Bubbles shook her head. "I don't, I'm not sure. I fell and it was there."

Blossom peered at the wound. "You're bleeding from a fall?

"_What's a special girl without her special powers?"_

Buttercup made a face. "Come on Bubbles, you're stronger than that, we're stronger than that."

"_Is she still special, or is she something else?"_

Bubbles paled as she frantically focused all of her energy to the palms of her hands.

"_Is she useless, a liability, or even a threat?" _

Nothing, not even the smallest spark of blue.

"_Or maybe all of the above?"_

"Bubbles?" Blossom questioned, growing worried as she watched her blonde sister.

One small trace of red smoke slithered into a crack in the ground. Bubbles shut her eyes as Him's voice rang through her head. _"Let's find out."_

VVVV

Just a little thought I had, the title will eventually make sense. In theory.


End file.
